What’s the deal with Charlize Theron? Yes, she is gorgeous and yes, she is a great actress. But does she have to play a total bitch in every movie she is in? Granted she seems to have varying levels of bitchy-ness but it might be nice to see her play someone who isn’t using or abusing another character. In “Snow White and the Huntsman”, she plays an evil bitch. In “Prometheus”, she plays a controlling bitch with daddy issues. In last year’s “Young Adult”, she plays a bitch who isn’t happy with her life, so she sets off on a self-destructive path not caring who she hurts along the way.
As the writer of a series of Young Adult novels, Mavis Gary is miserable with her life. She hails from a small town in Minnesota but now lives it up in the bright lights, big city of Minneapolis. She spends her time either writing, getting drunk or having one night stands. When she gets an email announcing the birth of her ex-boyfriends baby, she flips out and becomes obsessed with finding him and rekindling their lustful affair…and she doesn’t care that he’s married.
So she heads off to her old home town and sets up a “drinks date” with her ex, Buddy Slade (played by Patrick Wilson). She also runs into a geek she went to high school with, Matt (Patton Oswalt), who is known for being the victim of a hate crime. He was nearly beaten to death by the football team because they thought he was gay. But he’s not. Mavis is convinced that if she can spend enough time with Buddy, he will want her back.
The character of Mavis is a self obsessed, delusional and slightly masochistic. Try as you may, it’s nearly impossible to like her. It’s almost painful to watch her invade the lives of former friends and classmates as she tries to seduce Buddy into the sack again, or to run away with her, whatever she wants. I’m not even sure she knows what she wants. She’s just a miserable person and wants everyone else to share that misery, even if they think she’s off living the good life.
Written by Diablo Cody (Juno) and directed by Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air), “Young Adult” is a great movie, as painful as it is to watch at times. It is something everyone can relate to in some way…because really…who liked who they were in high school?
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Young Adult trailer: